<p>…going to community college then transferring to a 4-year?</p>
<p>My son is homeschooled… we hadn’t even planned to take the PSAT or SAT, just do the transfer route (we’re in CA, and UC won’t accept his homeschooled transcript, so transfer made the most sense).</p>
<p>He ended up taking the PSAT and I think he did really well. (He got the Telluride Assc. invitation.) If, for financial reasons, he does the CC route, would NM still be of benefit to him?</p>
<p>Jennifer</p>
<p>Jennifer: Most NMF don’t attend community college, so it is no real benefit. I don’t know how things work in CA but other states will take a homeschooled transcript. There are several schools that offer full-rides or near full-rides to NMF students, so it would probably be cheaper than community college. The UC schools don’t offer the NMF scholarships but some privates in CA may. I believe there is a list on this thread as well as on the NMSC website.</p>
<p>If he ends up as a NMF[ be SURE he DOES take the SAT, as it is a requirement to advance from NMSF to NMF status] then he is eligible for a automatic 1/2 tuition scholarship at USC. Stanford U also accepts top homeschooled applicants. Even if you decide to do the transfer route, having achieved NMF status would be a valuable plus to add to his transcript.</p>
<p>Good points. Thanks! </p>
<p>bringbackpluto, unfortunately UC won’t take our homeschool transcript, however there is Admission by Examination so maybe if he does amazingly on the SAT…</p>
<p>… and we really couldn’t do USC as we’re Bruins. Stanford maaaaaybeeee… 
But thanks for the scholarship tip as I didn’t think top schools did NM scholarships. I’ve seen the list of NMF scholarship schools and nothing really caught my eye.</p>
<p>my hubby went to Stanford, I HATED the Trojan marching band and I NEVER thought son would be interested in USC, but hey, when he was deferred and then rejected by
Stanford and was awarded a Full Tuition Scholarship by USC[ which would have not happened if he were not a NMFand applied by the Dec 1 scholarship deadline], we changed our minds about USC pretty quickly.The same could happen to your S, if he is very smart, which is just the kind of student USC is targeting these days.</p>
<p>If you are looking at really top schools, you may have trouble transferring in from CC. A better route might be a solid school that does award NMF money , followed by a transfer to a ‘big name school’. I think there are some very good schools awarding NMF money. U. Rochester and Case Western. I would also say that even if a school doesn’t award NMF money, having that on your child’s transcript certainly can’t hurt and requires only modest effort, assuming he/she has the scores.</p>
<p>Menloparkmom, congratulations to your son! Full tuition does put USC in a different light… although the fact that they’re targeting smart kids doesn’t really improve my opinion of USC! How is your son finding the academics there? All I can think of is “Pay a fee, get a degree.”</p>
<p>We’ll definitely move forward w/the SAT though just in case.</p>
<p>I know nada about USC, but I know a bit about some big state schools that have courted smart kids. It can work out very well - sometimes the schools will be very flexible about the tedious things like class prereqs, and find ways to help the bright kids find each other (special dorms and such). I’ve known some smart kids for whom it worked very well, others not so well. If your son is the sort that would find the good profs and the good classes, and who may need the big bucks later for grad school, I’d at least consider USC.</p>
<p>All I can think of is “Pay a fee, get a degree.”
Nooooooo. Not these days! USC has not only gone after great students[ [they have the second highest # of NMF’s in the US, only Harvard has more!], they have also actively recruited nationally recognized Profs and faculty. USC THESE days is now half-jokingly referred to as “University of Stolen Colleagues”. USC encourages students to take double majors in diverse areas with the Renaissance Majors program
[USC</a> Renaissance Scholars](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/renaissance/about.shtml]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/renaissance/about.shtml). Advanced freshman are encouraged to take the writing intensive Honors Humanities core classes- Thematic Options
[Thematic</a> Option > USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences](<a href=“http://college.usc.edu/thematic-option/]Thematic”>http://college.usc.edu/thematic-option/), and the Honors Science classes<br>
[Is</a> Freshman Science Honors Right for You? > USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences](<a href=“http://college.usc.edu/is-fsh-right-for-you]Is”>http://college.usc.edu/is-fsh-right-for-you)
Both offer small class sizes, are taught by the best profs at USC and are fast paced and HARD, even for very smart student with lots of AP’s under their belt.</p>
<p>Son participated in both programs, is doing a science major and minor, as well as taking music classes on the side, has had to work hard for his grades[ the curve is alive and well at USC], and has found a lot of really smart friends and wonderful, supportive faculty at USC.</p>
<p>Have your son accept a NMF scholarship from one of several state schools, such as University of Alabama. There is very little cost involved to the family, and he can always transfer to a California school and pay for the tuition there, having already acquired 2 years of free college education. Or perhaps he would want to stay at his original college, and continue getting that almost totally free education. There is a thread that lists all the colleges that offer substantial NMF scholarships. You might want to investigate that if he does make it to NMF. Some colleges also givve scholarships if a student is NMSemi finalist, as well.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! It will take me some time to get used to the idea of my offspring going to USC but I may need to.</p>
<p>HSBruins: Check out this thread</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation-12.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation-12.html</a></p>
<p>"It will take me some time to get used to the idea of my offspring going to USC but I may need to. "
It is always a good idea to keep your options open, especially these days. The son of a client, who went to UCLA, whose dad was a prof in the CS dept there, was accepted at both UCLA and USC, and decided to go to USC. In light of the state of the economy in Calif these days, he is very glad he is there. Times change.</p>
<p>On one admit day, I sat next to many UCLA alumni who had to swallow their pride and let their offsprings attending USC.</p>
<p>… 232.</p>
<p>Yahoo!</p>
<p>He was hoping for 240 and was only a tad disappointed but we’ll take it.</p>
<p>HSBuins, congratulations to your son! As the parent of two homeschoolers, I am in a similar situation- and my son is a senior in HS now, a NMSF, and an applicant to USC. : ) USC is his first choice and we are hoping for at least the 50% tuition scholarship. The most important reason for USC being his first choice however, is their top music school. He wants to double major in math and music composition. So although the financial consideration is extremely important, one other big factor should be what your son is interested in studying in college. Look at some of the other schools that provide scholarships too. </p>
<p>We are in Iowa… so distance is not important, but it might be important to you and your son.</p>
<p>Tip: start your application early! USC requires homeschoolers to provide a dossier- detailed syllabi, course descriptions, etc. with their transcript. Our son’s was 100+ pages bound in book form. Also- for homeschoolers- 3 SAT subject tests required. Prepare now, to allow for the best options!</p>
<p>Congrats!!! Great score.</p>
<p>Now make sure that he dots his i’s and crosses his t’s to make NMF. He’ll be notified around September that he made NMSF.</p>
<p>Did he take the test at a high school? (I know he’s homeschooled.)</p>
<p>BTW…there are many schools that give full-tuition or full-ride scholarships to NMF’s, so if you don’t like USC, then seek out others. </p>
<p>Or, at least apply to some others as financial safeties. When my son made National Merit, he applied to several NM schools and got over $600k in offers. He also applied to some schools that don’t give NM scholarships. He visited all his schools and chose the one he liked best.</p>
<p>See the many other postings… there are schools like Oklahoma that will pay tuition and room and board for National Merit Finalists.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I was really hoping to avoid all of this by having my kids transfer. But hey, you can’t turn away free money.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, yes, he took the test at a local high school which went fine.</p>
<p>yorkiemom, you’re scaring me with the dossier, but I suppose again, free money makes it worthwhile.</p>
<p>I feel like such a newb. Well you all have survived so I will too, right? :-)</p>
<p>100+ pages? That seems far, far too long to me. That would take a long time to read. I hope you at least had some sort of very brief summary.</p>